Matt Hancock warns business over cyber-security threat

Matt Hancock has beemn speaking at the Telegraph's Cyber Security event, as the government today publishes the new National Cyber Security Centre’s Prospectus, setting out how it’ll work ahead of its full launch later this year under GCHQ.

The government announced they were setting up a National Cyber Security Centre under GCHQ, which will provide a single point of contact for businesses in need of advice and support and bridge the gap between the worlds of government and industry.

Matt Hancock says that in the last year, two thirds of large businesses in the UK experienced an cyber attack and almost a quarter suffered a breach at least once a month, he says.

"This matters because we are one of the world’s leading digital nations. Twelve and a half per cent of our economy is now online. No other country does more e-commerce."

He says it is vital to recognise this is an issue for CEOs as well as "spooks" and that companies and the government have a "shared responsibility" when it comes to tackling cyber crime.

Pollsters: Remain campaign have the advantage on the ground

Two of the leading academic gurus on the polls and data surrounding the EU referendum - Professor John Curtice of the University of Strathclyde and Professor Matthew Goodwin of the University of Kent have been speaking at Chatham House in London.

Peter Foster, our Europe editor was there – here are some key takeaways:

1) No tipping point for Remain: an academically rigorous assessment of recent polls – which appear to be shifting sharply towards ‘Remain’ if you follow newspaper headlines – in fact show some “slight evidence” of a drift towards ‘Remain’ but are “not obviously a tipping point”, says John Curtice.

2) Phone poll bias: the poll-of-polls is showing a move towards ‘Remain’ partly because there has been a much higher proportion of phone polls in recent weeks – and phone polls have consistently showed a bias towards ‘remain’ when compared to online polls. Other measures show little movement.

3) Advantage remain on the ground: the “Remain” are building up a potentially “devastating” advantage on the ground, running an average of 140 more events per week than ‘Leave’. They are also targeting their core voters much more effectively. Some 32% of Remain events are in high-density pro ‘Remain’ areas, compared with 3% for leave.

4) Mobilize, don’t persuade: Why is that important? Because, says Goodwin, this campaign is “far more about mobilization than persuasion” – which is to say, it’s all about turning out core voters, rather than changing people’s minds. Data shows that voters are not shifting from one side to the other in significant numbers. Goodwin reckons that if turnout dips in to the 50s, and 'Leave' has a 5% turnout advantage, we get Brexit. Curtice is not so sure. Says turnout differential could be crucial, however large the overall turnout.

5) Immigration key for leave: Broadly, ‘Remain’ is winning the economic arguments, but ‘Leave’ score on identity, security and immigration. Goodwin recommends that ‘Leave’ focuses “100 per cent” on immigration for the remainder of the campaign to mobilize their core vote and pick off at least some wavering remainers. Immigration is the issue that makes remainers wobble the most, research shows.

The European superstate wants its own army, eurosceptic minister says

Andrea Leadsom, a eurosceptic minister, has warned that the European Union has ambitions for its own army.

She told BBC Radio 4's World at One: "The only option for the European project is to move towards a European Superstate. And what is the first priority of a superstate - they have an army. To suggest that you can be part of a project and not be drawn in to the absolute logic of where it's going is implausible."

However Kate Green, a pro-Europe Labour MP, said: "Everybody would be interested in security and the most effective mechanisms for securing that. I don't see that as a precursor to a single European Army. If that is the fear I'm not sure the UK would be any more secure standing on the side. We're worrying about something that is absolutely not on the cards."

Full Osborne response on government website demand

George Osborne said the Government was "confident" it was acting within the law - and accused Leave campaigners of focusing on the process of the referendum rather than the issues.

The Chancellor was challenged as he stood in for David Cameron at Prime Minister's questions by Mr Jenkin, who told him the committee had published three legal opinions from the Speaker's Counsel that "make it perfectly clear it is illegal".

"Of course the Government will comply with the law and Government websites will comply with the purdah rules, and we are confident that they do," Mr Osborne told him.

"But can I make a general observation. You and I have fought for this referendum, the referendum is taking place, there are some huge issues at stake about Britain's economy, Britain's security, Britain's place in the world.

"We have perfectly honourable disagreements on those big issues. Let's debate the substance rather than the process and then the British people will feel they've had a range of opinions and they can make their mind up."

Nervous Osborne?

Mr Osborne is still looking nervous here, he keeps tripping over his words and speaking quickly.

Despite Angela Eagle's best efforts she didn't really land a clear blow on the Chancellor.

It is worth noting that the Chancellor is getting vocal support from Tory MPs on the benches behind him.

There have been rumours that Osborne had fallen out of favour with colleagues but it seems they're willing to back him here.

Anne Main, the Tory MP, has suggested the Green Belt will be threatened by levels of migration if we remain in the EU.

Osborne says it is protected and it's up to the British people to decide whether to leave or remain, adding that Vote Leave has presented no credible evidence that levels of migration would fall.

Asked if the Government will take down information relating to the EU referendum from its websites during purdah by Bernard Jenkin Osborne replies: "The government will comply with the law ... There are some huge issues at stake... We have perfectly honourable disagreements on those issues let's debate the substance rather than the process"

Tory MPs jeer splits in Labour

This from Kate McCann, our senior political correspondent, who is in the Commons chamber.

Angela Eagle is giving a very measured and steady performance as she goes up against the Chancellor but she has just walked into a tricky area talking about how the Tories are split "down the middle".

It gives the Conservatives an opportunity to whoop and jeer given Labour are fighting their own internal battles.

The main topic is Google and how much it has been taxed. It's a strong issue for Labour to go on given Mr Osborne previously said the UK had won a good deal out of the company regarding tax when this has been shown not to be the case. But it's hard to land any real blows on the Chancellor because it's so technical.

George Osborne begins PMQs with Trident jibe

30 MPs and peers demand the Government takes down pro-EU links from Government websites by Friday

Christopher Hope, our chief political correspondent, writes:

Dozens of Tory MPs and peers have written to the head of the civil service urging him to observe the rules of purdah ahead of the EU referendum and take down pro-EU links from websites.

The letter, from former Work and Pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith, to Sir Jeremy Heywood, the Cabinet secretary, has been signed by 30 MPs and peers including former Mayor of London Boris Johnson, former Environment secretary Owen Paterson and Tory backbencher David Burrowes.

It says: “We demand that any government web pages material published with the intention of persuading people to vote remain should be taken down” before Friday, when official Whitehall purdah rules come into force restricting Government pronouncements ahead of the referendum.

The letter – copied to David Cameron, the Prime Minister - adds: “Failure to carry this out will put both ministers and civil servants in breach of the law, the Ministerial Code and the Civil Service Code.”

Life on the campaign trail has its benefits....

Brown: Michael Gove doesn't really care about UK sovereignty

More from Matthew Holehouse, who is listening to the former Labour prime minister.

Gordon Brown asks why, if he is so concerned about sovereignty, does Michael Gove not complain about US Air Force bases on British soil?

It's because he does not really care about sovereignty but just wants to blame the EU, he says.

Mr Brown jokes: "We have exchanged swords for ploughshares. We may now have too many ploughshares, thanks to the Common Agricultural Policy."

He suggests the No 10 "Project Fear" campaign is too negative. He says the PM doesn't take his advice, but "it is important to be positive and have an agenda for the future, and not just be negative about what might go wrong."

Ukip's Paul Nuttall asks Mr Brown if he will admit that his call for "British jobs for British workers" is illegal under European law.

Mr Brown says that free movement has been good for growth and public services and that his speech was a call for better skills raining for British workers.

Asked about the risk of a second Scottish independence referendum, Mr Brown says he believes the Unionist side would win.

VIDEO: How to vote and everything else you need to know about polling day

With the referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union fast approaching on June 23, here we explain how you can register to vote, how to cast your vote on the day and what happens once the polls closed

Gordon Brown has told the European Parliament that the idea of "bringing control back home" is the driving force of "xenophobic" movement around the world as people lash out against globalisation.

He called for a new EU fund to compensate British communities that have seen major influxes of foreign workers.

Gordon BrownCredit:
EDDIE MULHOLLAND/ EDDIE MULHOLLAND

He laid out six policies that could convince Labour voters to stay that should be unveiled in the British presidency of the EU next year. They are:

1) Completing the single market to create 500,000 extra jobs in a decade

2) Integrating energy markets to lower bills and cut climate change.

3) Acting at an EU level to tackle tax havens including blacklists and sanctions.

4) Pushing for more intelligence sharing and a "Modern Marshall Plan" for north Africa to halt the migration crisis.

5) A new EU Solidarity Fund to pay for schools and hospitals in areas where there have been "sharp population changes"

6) Stronger workers' rules to protect native workers from being undercut by EU migrants in a "dog-eat-dog race to the bottom".

Mr Brown said: “The ‘Leave’ campaign will say that a Britain which gained only grudging concessions from our neighbours before the vote will be treated harshly after the vote. The opposite is true; with a clear domestic mandate, we will be in a far stronger position to shape Europe’s future.

“The positive agenda I propose is not only essential to convince Labour and progressive voters to turn out on June 23 but it is also the correct way forward – with Britain discovering a post-imperial role that makes us proud to be in the vanguard of the next stage of Europe’s development. In short, we should be leading Europe, not leaving it.”

Europe is reducing soldiers to 'civilians in uniform', General warns

The European Union has "seriously undermined" the armed forces and risks reducing soldiers to "civilians in uniform", one of Britain's most respected military generals warns today.

General Sir Michael Rose, a former director of special forces, has come out in favour of a Brexit just three months after Downing Street mistakenly added his name to a letter promoting EU membership.

He is one of 12 retired senior military leaders who have announced that they are backing Veterans for Britain, a group which will seek to encourage serving and retired personnel to vote for a Brexit.

General Sir (Hugh) Michael Rose is a retired British Army GeneralCredit:
Marco Secchi / Rex Features /Marco Secchi / Rex Features

The military leaders backing a Brexit include commanders who have served in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Falklands.

It comes after Downing Street was left embarrassed in February over a letter saying that Britain must stay in the EU on national security grounds.

No 10 was forced to apologise to Sir Michael after an "administrative error" saw his name included on the letter while Field Marshal Lord Bramall, the former head of the army, said that he felt pressured into signing it.

Martin Schulz, the president of the European Parliament, says voters should stop thinking about the cost of EU membership when considering their vote.

"It's time to get over the book-keeping approach, who pays what, who gets what out of the common market," he says, and look at the broader arguments for the single market.

He is speaking ahead of Gordon Brown's address to the European Parliament.

He says he is "excited" by Brown's ideas of "how a post-remain Britain could return to Europe's helm".

He says he has a duty as a "friend" to warn against Brexit.

President of the European parliament Martin Schulz , left, and President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker, rightCredit:
Alessandra Tarantino/ Alessandra Tarantino

"We have to respect the decision to leave as a decision to stay. A decision to leave is a decision to leave. There will be no huffing and puffing from our side."

A global world becoming more interdependent by the day. "Geopolitics is returning with force."

Europe will have an "ever-decreasing share" of world GDP and population. "We can hold our own, but we must work together," he says. The Chinese leaders are questioning whether Europe is a "world region," he adds.

"The EU is the best place to be a leading world region," he adds, saying that if people return to nation states they will become a "backwater".

He says that EU membership "magnifies" British power. "The EU is not about giving up sovereignty, but taking back control."

He says it is "unfair" to warn that Britain will be sucked into deeper EU integration if it Remains. "To those who fear being dragged into some integrity drive, I ask, when was Britain dragged into something its government was not willing to sign up for," he says, citing Britain's exemption from schengen, justice measures and the EU.

"Britain has never been obliged to join any step of EU integration. The EU has a track record of being a flexible entity."

"Where do the ideas of Britain being dragged kicking and screaming into integration come from?"

Leadsom: IFS ignoring 'very real risk' of staying in EU

Andrea Leadsom, the energy minister who backs leaving the EU, says the IMF had based its analysis on 'entirely negative assumptions'.

Energy Minister Andrea LeadsomCredit:
Warren Allott for The Telegraph/Warren Allott for The Telegraph

"It’s no wonder people are being turned off this debate given the continuous campaign to do down the British economy from EU-funded organisations. So many of these studies are based on entirely negative assumptions about our economy and the future decisions a UK Government outside the EU would make, but ignore the pressing need of EU countries to continue trading with the UK. They also ignore the very real risk of what will happen if we vote ‘In’; more money and power to a Brussels interested only in propping up an ailing eurozone.

"If we Vote Leave we can secure our economic security for future generations based on expanding our trade across the globe, turbocharging our economy and taking control of our borders. On 23 June the safer option is to Vote Leave."

IFS: Billions of pounds in cuts if UK votes for Brexit

Britain will have to make an extra £15billion worth of cuts and tax rises if voters back a Brexit or face another two years of austerity, the IFS has warned.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies said that any gains to Britain from lower EU contributions in the wake of a leave vote will be cancelled out by the economic costs.

In a report out today the IFS warns that Britain's national debt will be between £20billion and £40billion higher if it votes to leave the European Union, forcing George Osborne to miss his target of running a Budget surplus by 2020.

It found that the Chancellor would have to make deeper cuts to public services and welfare of around £10billion to plug the gap and increase the basic and higher rates of income tax by 1p to raise more than £5billion.

The document states: "In the short run, our estimates therefore suggest that the overall effect of Brexit would be to damage the public finances.

Prime Minister David Cameron helps to campaign for a 'Remain' vote in the forthcoming EU referendum at a phone centre in London along with fellow pro EU campaigners, Lord Ashdown (left) and Lord KinnockCredit:
Stefan Rousseau/ Stefan Rousseau

"Dealing with the public finance effect would require at least an additional one or two years of ‘austerity’ – spending cuts or tax rises – at the same rate as we have experienced recently to get the public finances back to balance.

"Following this path would also mean government debt remaining higher than otherwise, and additional debt interest payments."

The report is the latest in a series of stark economic forecasts looking at the impact of a vote to leave on the long and short term UK economic prospects.